A Love Revealed
by YullenStarDust
Summary: A fanfiction based on one of my favorite exercise games and one of my OTPS, NAOjun (NAOKIxjun). NAOKI and jun have known each other their whole lives, and have not thought to confess until auditioning at the DDR studio. When they finally become a couple, many different occurrences and problems await them.
1. Confession

"NAOKI!" his mom called from downstairs. "Don't forget about the auditions today!"  
"H-huh...? Oh! Coming!" NAOKI said, casting his blankets to the side as he jumped out of bed. He yawned, and started putting on his outfit. _Man..._ NAOKI thought to himself. _I almost forgot about this! _After he was done, he brushed his messy, frizzy hair then closed the door to his bedroom and went downstairs.

NAOKI stomped down the stairs in a hurry and was about to head for the front door when his mom calls him for breakfast.  
"Seriously,Mom?" he said,following her. "I'm going to be late!"  
"You have 30 more minutes until you have to be there. Besides, you need energy in order to dance!"  
He sighed, sat down, and started eating. NAOKI's father was in the recliner, reading the daily newspaper.

"Hey honey," his father asked NAOKI's mom curiously,"Have you heard that jun is going to be at the auditions too?"  
Overhearing this,NAOKI almost spit out his food. "Yes I have." She replied with a smile and a brief glance in NAOKI's direction.  
NAOKI blushed, and looked away. _S-She's going to be there?_  
"NAOKI, are you alright,dear?" his mom said, patting his back."

"I-I'm fine. I just...choked a little on my food." he said, cleaning his mouth with his napkin after he was done eating.  
She got his bowl and started rinsing it out.  
NAOKI's father looked at his son, who was straightening his bow on his outfit. "Do you want me to drive you there?"

"No, but thanks,Dad." he said,fixing his hair. "The studio is not that far from our neighborhood, so I'll be fine walking."  
"Okay,son." his father said. "But if you want to change your mind when you leave, just let me know alright?" NAOKI hugged his parents goodbye, then left the house, running as his feet touched the sidewalk.

"Why didn't I know that jun was going to be there?" he said to himself. "I'm such a fool..." Without knowing, he hits into Hip, who was walking down the same sidewalk as NAOKI was, drinking a soda. "Oh...hey,Hip." NAOKI said,backing up, then trying to walk the other way, but Hip stops him with his arm.  
"Where are you going to?"

"I'm going to the auditions for a dance team competition at the DDR studio. Are you going to it?"  
"Me? No. I have some chores to do at my house." Hip said, sipping more of his soda, then waves goodbye to NAOKI as he walks away from him. "Good luck on the auditions,bro!"

"Thanks,dude." NAOKI said, starting to run again until he finally reached the place.  
Disco opened the door for him,welcoming him inside. "Hey,NAOKI! Excited for the tryouts?" he said as he closed the door behind him.  
"I sure am!" he said. "I can't wait!"  
"I can't either." he said, smiling,then looks at NAOKI again. "And I've heard jun's going to be here..."

NAOKI looked away, blushing. "Aaaw, the little boy's got a crush on the girl."  
"I'm not a little boy! I'm a grown man!" NAOKI said,flailing and whining.  
"Geez,calm down. I was just teasing ya." Disco said,rubbing NAOKI's head and laughing.

When they got to the auditioning place, NAOKI was amazed at how many people were there. There were fans, dancers from the other DDR studios, then Hop,Rena and the other dancers from the studio he was at before moving to the other one.

Rena ran up to NAOKI and hugged him tight. "Aren't you thrilled for this event?" she said.  
"I am." He said, smiling. "I wanted to come over here right away after I got ready, but I had to eat breakfast before doing that."

While NAOKI and her were talking, a finger taps on his shoulder, making him jump. He turned around, and looked at the woman in amazement. It was jun in a different outfit.

"Wow jun..." he said,blushing. "You look beautiful."  
"Thanks." jun said, giggling.

"You look pretty jun!" Rena said, admiring her outfit.  
jun bowed to her. "I wanted to take a break from my other clothing, so I'm wearing my kimono for now.  
NAOKI kept on staring at her, lost in space.

"NAOKI...NAOKI. Are you okay?" jun said, laughing, which got NAOKI's head out of the clouds.  
"Oh. Y-yeah, I'm fine." he said, shaking his head, and smiling. The bell rang for the auditions to start. People start running like lightning to their places, almost running over NAOKI and jun.

" _really_ need to watch who's in front of them." NAOKI said, regaining his conciousness.  
"I agree." jun said, grabbing a hold of his hand,which makes NAOKI blush massively, making jun giggle. "Well, let's get to our place. We don't want to be last."

"O-O-Okay..." NAOKI said, stammering a little. As they watched some of the people doing their dances, NAOKI noticed that jun was still holding his hand. NAOKI smiled, blushing, then looked back at the stage.

After the last group of people were done, him and jun were called. jun squealed excitedly, and squeezed NAOKI's hand tight as she led him to the stage. The music started playing, and jun put her hands on NAOKI's shoulder,blushing bantamly.

NAOKI smiled, blushing. He put his hand on her right, and started spinning her around.  
"NAOKI, that's making me dizzy!" jun said, feeling faint. NAOKI,noticing it, stopped and started dancing with her again.  
As the song was about to end, he looked away._ Since we're doing this now... what should I tell her...?_ he thought.  
_I've had a big crush on her since I've first met her...I'm so nervous..._

"NAOKI, are you alright...?" jun asked,tilting her head to the side.

"Well..I...I just wanted to let you know that..." NAOKI started to say.  
"Know what?"  
"That..that I...love you."  
jun gasped,surprised. She couldn't believe NAOKI liked her more than them being friends. She had to admit, she liked him too the same way. "I...I love you too,NAOKI." She hugged NAOKI tight, which made him blush more than she did.  
He could hear _Oooos_ and _Aaaaws_ from the crowd.

"Well,that's a wrap! Good job, you two!" One of the judges said, moving NAOKI and jun out of the way so the last group of people could go. When they were done, they told the people to go back home.

As NAOKI and jun were leaving the building, jun was looking away, smiling. NAOKI looked at her and smiled also.  
"NAOKI..." she said,looking at him.

"Yes?"  
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"  
"I...I was just too nervous."  
"It's fine." she said, hugging him. "You know...I've had a crush on you since I first saw you too."  
This made NAOKI stop in his tracks. "You d-did?"

"Yes." she said, playing with her hair. "You're cute and handsome."  
"Thanks, but I don't feel like I am."  
"Don't think that. You are."  
"No, I'm not."  
"Yes you are!" she said, rubbing his head.

"Okay,okay. I'll stop." he said, laughing. As the sky turned from beaufiul sky blue to dazzling night with the white, sparkling stars, jun put her head on NAOKI's shoulder,smiling.


	2. First Date

The next morning, NAOKI was at the dance studio with jun and the other dancers, waiting for their results from the audition yesterday. They were sitting on the bench, listening as a group of people were being called up and seeing who was on the team, and who was not.  
He sighed, and looked away. jun put her hand on NAOKI's shoulder, to comfort him, which made NAOKI blush. "It'll be alright," she said, smiling. " Don't worry so much about it."

He looked at her, and smiled. "Thanks, jun. I'm just stressed. I really hope they call us up soon. I hope we make the team."  
"It's okay,NAOKI. Just relax. I'm sure we made it. We gave it our all yesterday." jun said, scooting closer to him. She put her arms around NAOKI's waist, as she leaned in. Gently, jun placed her head onto NAOKI's shoulder. She wanted so badly to console him, but she knew it wasn't going to help much. He was too worried about the auditions.

The auditions are very important to him, jun and the other dancers. All jun could do was to be there to support him, no matter what happened.  
NAOKI blushed, and smiled. When the second to last group found out their scores, him, jun, and the rest of their group were called up.

As NAOKI followed the group to the stage,his stress level rose. jun looked over at him, just in time to see a beat of sweat rolling NAOKI's temple. jun smiled, and shook her head. NAOKI was adorable,even though he was nervous. He had a way of making everything look cute without even trying.

As the groups were annouced, NAOKI began to bite his nails. jun giggled and tapped his hand to make it stop, then took it and squeezed his hand to comfort him.

Then it happened... "Group 2, you've made it!" NAOKI's eyes grew wide in shock. He just stood there for a moment. Everybody in his group started clapping.  
"NAOKI,snap out of it!" jun said, putting her hands on NAOKI's shoulders, giving him a few gentle shakes to make him snap out of his shock state.

"W-w-wha...?" NAOKI said as he shook his head and looked at jun, then the other dancers. As soon as they stopped, Hip glomped NAOKI, then Rena, then the other dancers,except for Hop and Chordia. Rena looked at them, confused. Why weren't they clapping for them? Were they jealous, even though they were on the same team, and they won? Rena looked back at NAOKI, who was out of breath, so she got up. Hip was still hugging him, so Rena pulled him off of NAOKI so he could at least live.

NAOKI, who was breathing again, got up and straightened out his shirt, then looked at Hip, who was blushing, and looking away.

_I'm so glad we made the team. _NAOKI thought, sighing. _I'm so happy jun and others helped me out. Also... the reason I was so stressed was because of the auditions, but also I want to ask jun something... but I'm so nervous. _

He shook his head, fustrated, covering his face with his hands. _No! Don't be a wimp and not ask her out. ...Just be courageous and ask her already! _  
NAOKI removed his hands from his face and walked over to jun, blushing. jun looked over at him, smiling, then frowned when she saw his face.

"NAOKI, what is it? Aren't you happy we made the team?" she said, putting her hands on NAOKI's shoulders.  
"I am." NAOKI said, sighing. "I just want to ask you something."  
"What?"  
"Would you like to go out with me?"  
jun gasped at what he said. She blushed, and looked away, then looked back at NAOKI,smiling. "Yes."

NAOKI grinned, happy that she said that. "I'll pick you up tonight at 6, alright?" he said, hugging her, which made a light blush come to jun's face,making her smile.  
"Okay." she said as she left the building to go home.

As NAOKI was about to open the door, Rena ran up to him and tapped his shoulder. NAOKI turned around and looked at her. "What is-" he began to say, but she pulled him in, and cupped her hand over his ear.

"You'd better be careful about Hop and Chordia,NAOKI." she whispered to him quietly. "I noticed that they weren't looking happy at all for the team, and that they were staring right at you and jun. I think they're jealous of you and jun liking each other."

"That's nonsense." NAOKI said, laughing a little. "Why would they-"  
"NAOKI, I'm being serious. They don't like you and jun being together."

"What?"  
"...Never mind. Just listen to what I said and stay away from them. They might hurt jun or you,alright?" she said, pulling away from him and letting him go.  
NAOKI didn't know what she meant by that, but nodded anyways as he left the buliding.

When he reached his home, he was pooped from being all stressed out about the auditions, so he took a nap on the couch for a few hours.  
As afternoon went by, and night started crawling in, NAOKI felt a tap on his shoulder. He woke up, and looked up to see who it was. It was his mom, smiling at him, shaking her head.

"Looks like you were tired from getting up so early, huh." she said.  
"Yeah, I guess." NAOKI said, yawning.  
"Well, anyways, jun told me you and her have a date tonight, and it's almost 6."  
"Oh shoot! It is?!" NAOKI said, getting up from the couch, streching.

"Yep. So you might as well get ready." she said, as she saw NAOKI bolt up to his room.  
As he was done putting on his tuxedo and fixing his hair up, he heard the door bell ring from downstairs, so he ran down there- making sure he didn't fall on the steps of course- then opened the door. His jaw dropped when he saw jun.

Her hair was down, from the ponytails she always had in her hair. She had a dazzling, red dress on, with black rose patterns on it, and black shoes.  
"Wow..." NAOKI said, blushing. "You look amazing."  
jun giggled. "Thanks, NAOKI. I wanted to look my best, so I'm glad you like it." She put her arm around NAOKI's as NAOKI waved goodbye to his parents and closed the door behind him.

"So...where are we going for our first date?" jun asked, as she put her head on NAOKI's shoulder.  
"Well, I thought we could go to a resturant somewhere and eat dinner." he said, looking at her, smiling.  
"That sounds nice. What is the name of the place?"

"Mario's Cafe. They have really good Italian food."  
"Ooooh! I love Italian food!" jun said, squealing.  
"Me too." he said, as they reached the place.

As he and jun walked in, the waiter at the stand welcomed them in, and took them to their table. Wanting to act like a gentleman, NAOKI pulled out jun's chair for her, making her giggle. When she sat down in her chair, he sat down in his and started to scan through the menu he picked up.

"What would you two like to eat?" the waiter asked them, as jun was done thinking about her order.  
"I would like some spaghetti." jun said.  
"Same here, but make it spicy." NAOKI said, drooling a little.  
_As usual with his parents... _jun thought, shaking her head and smiling.

When they were done eating, jun and NAOKI walked home together, holding each other's hands. NAOKI stopped, leaned in, and gave her a kiss on the lips, making jun blush massively, then pulled back.

"NAOKI..." she said, staring at him in shock. "What was that for?"  
NAOKI laughed a little. "I did that because I love you, jun."  
"Oh yeah, right." jun said, laughing, then looking at her watch. "Oh! I need to get going to my house soon! It's almost past my bed time!" she said, panicking. She hugged NAOKI, then started running to her house. "See you later!"

"See ya." NAOKI said, waving, then started to go up the stairs to the front porch. As he was about to put his hand on the door to open it, he heard a loud scream.  
It was jun's! Surprised, he ran in the direction jun did to see what was going on, and gasped when she saw that Chordia and Hop were harassing was trying her best to fight back at them. NAOKI, furious at what was happening, started getting angry.

"HEY! GET AWAY FROM HER RIGHT NOW!" NAOKI yelled, walking over to Chordia and Hop, and pushing them away from jun.  
Chorida lost her balance and hit the ground,looking up at NAOKI, who was looking at her, with his arms crossed. "NAOKI, it's not what it-"

"I don't want to hear about it!" NAOKI said. "Rena told me about you guys being jealous of me and her and I didn't believe it until now."  
"NAOKI..." jun said, surprised to see NAOKI stand up for her.  
"I'll deal with this. Don't worry about it." he said, looking over his shoulder at her and smiling. He looked back at Hop, who was scared.  
"Dude... I'm sorry..." Hop said, worried.

"Just listen! You guys... just need to stop bullying her. Even though me and jun like each other and are dating, it doesn't mean that you should be harassing her and beating her up. Got that?!"

"Y-Yes..." Chordia and Hop said at the same time, getting up. "We promise we won't bully her again."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes, we're , we're really sorry we did this. Our jealousy got the better of us." Chordia said, looking down at the ground.  
NAOKI nodded, and watched as they walked away,sulking. He then looked at jun, who ran to him, with her arms spread out, and hugged NAOKI tight.

"Thanks for standing up for me, NAOKI." she said, kissing him on the lips. "You were brave to do that."  
"Pfft. I'm not." he said, sarcastically.  
jun laughed, and hugged him again, then started running to her house.

NAOKI looked back at her, and smiled, then started to go back to his house for the night.


	3. Heartbreak

After a few months of jun and NAOKI going out,things have been going fine after what had happened before. NAOKI and jun were at the dance studio, practicing on their dance teams. NAOKI kept on spinning jun around, which made her laugh, but also feel dizzy at the same time, so he had to stop. The other dancers, on the other hand, were watching him and jun.

Chordia looked at Rena, who was grinning at the two. "Aren't we going to dance with our partners,too?" she asked her, a little impatiently.  
"Yes, we are," Rena said, taking her attention away from NAOKI and jun for a moment, looking at Chordia. "They have only a few minutes, then U1 and I go up on the stage and dance."  
"Then me and Hip go!" Chordia said, grabbing Hip, who was trying to run away from her. Hip sighed, fustrated that his escape failed.

"What about me?" Hop asked, walking up to Rena.  
"Don't you have a partner?" she asked him. Hop shook his head, which meant "No".  
"Well, didn't you pick one out before the event?" Hop shook his head again.  
"Okay then... do you want Nova as your partner?"  
Hop shrugged. "I g-guess." Nova, squealing, ran over to Hop and hugged him.  
"Thank you so much,Rena!" she said, hugging him tighter.  
"You're welcome." Rena said, laughing a little. She knew Nova had a big crush on Hop, so she asked him that to make her happy.

When NAOKI and jun were done, they both sat on the bench, which was right next to the stage. They watched as Rena and U1 got onto the stage and started dancing.  
jun smiled at them, while NAOKI just sat there, with his head in his hands,sulking. Hearing NAOKI let out a heavy sigh, jun looked him with a concerned look on her face.  
"NAOKI, are you alright?" she said, hugging him.  
"Yeah... just a little... stressed." he said,blushing and hugging jun back.  
"Stressed about what?"  
NAOKI sighed again, then cleared his throat. "Do you remember when Hop and Chordia were bullying you?"  
"Yes, I do."  
"Well, I'm still worried that they might bully you again." he said, sulking more.

"Don't worry about it so much." she said, taking a hold of his hand and squeezing it. "Besides, I think Chordia and Hop have learned their lesson by now,right?"  
"I guess so." NAOKI said, fixing his posture. He smiled, and put his hand around jun's shoulders.  
After Rena and U1 were done, Hip and Chordia went. Hip kept on looking at NAOKI, whispering "Help me!" to him. Chordia had to keep on taking his attention away from NAOKI, since Hip keep on stumbling a lot. NAOKI rolled his eyes, knowing that Hip liked him and didn't want to dance with Chordia at all.

After Hip and Chordia were done, they got off the stage, with Hop and Nova coming up. While they were dancing, Hop,when he had a time to look at NAOKI, kept on giving him an evil glare. NAOKI shivered a little bit, then whispering to jun " I think Hop hasn't learned his."

"What?" jun asked, confused.  
"He keeps on glaring at me..."  
"Glaring at you?"  
"Yes." jun looked over at Hop, who looked away instantly from NAOKI when jun saw him. "I think you're right."

After the rest had gone, the bell rang for the dancers to be dismissed from the studio. jun and NAOKI left first, holding hands. NAOKI was looking up at the sky, frowning.  
"NAOKI..." jun said, looking him, using her hand to make NAOKI look at her. "Please don't worry so much about it. You make me sad when you're like that." she kisses NAOKI on the cheek,making him smile and blush.

"Thanks jun." he said. "I feel better now."  
"Glad to hear that." she said, smiling.

A few hours later, when NAOKI was at his house, he was watching TV with his parents. He started worrying again, making his father and mom look at him.  
"Son," his father said,"what's wrong?"  
"I'm so worried about jun being bullied again. Even though she told me not to worry, I still do." He patted NAOKI's back.  
"Listen to your girlfriend,NAOKI." he said, smiling. "I sometimes worry a lot too, like for example, work and other things I have to do."  
NAOKI smiled, and nodded. "I will, Dad." He gets up, and straightens out his jacket, which keeps on messing up each time he sits down. "I'm going to jun's house for a while."  
he said to his parents, walking over to the door.

"Okay." his mom said. "Make sure you're back in time for dinner!"  
"Okay!" NAOKI said, closing the door behind him. When he was almost at jun's house, he could hear voices close by.

"jun, why are you with that lame guy?" a voice said.  
NAOKI's eyes widened in shock. _Is jun... c-cheating on me? _NAOKI thought, walking closer to where the two were, then hiding behind a trash can so the person talking to jun won't see him eavesdropping.  
"Hop... I told you a million times, I like NAOKI and I love him also. You just have to learn that he's not lame, he's a really nice guy."  
"Not according to me." Hop said, crossing his arms. "I believe you still are my girlfriend, even if people say we broke up, we haven't."  
"I'm not your girlfriend anymore, Hop! Just stop bugging me,okay?"

"You're still my girfriend... to me. Now, would you like to go on a date tonight?" he said, taking a hold of jun's hand, but she slapped it away in anger.  
"No thank you."  
"Excuse me?"  
"I said, no thank you. I don't like you anymore, Hop. You need to understand that by now."  
"Fine!" Hop said, huffing. "Have it your way. I'll be back later." He opened the gate to leave the backyard, then slammed it behind him.

Tears started rolling down jun's face. She really hated Hop doing this. Hearing something from the distance, she looked up and saw NAOKI pop up from beind the trash can, then he walked into the backyard where jun was, with a disappointed look on his face. "So... you've been hanging around with Hop?" NAOKI said, tears forming in his eyes.

"NAOKI, it's not what it looks like..." she said, sobbing.  
"jun..." NAOKI said, a little angry. "How could you do this to me...?!"  
"I d-didn't mean to... "

NAOKI didn't say anything else for a minute. His eyebrows narrowed into an furious expression. He couldn't hold his anger back any longer. "If you want to be with him and not me, then so be it! You could've just told me you didn't like me in the first place!" NAOKI turned around, his back facing her. "Just leave me alone."

He started walking away, and opening the gate. "NAOKI, wait!" jun said, running up to him. "I...I..." Before she could finish her sentence, he slammed the gate behind him, same thing as Hop did, then stormed off.

jun just stood there, then went down on her knees and started sobbing. _What have I done...?_


	4. Back Together

On a nice, sunny morning, school was starting again for the dancers. It is going to be their last year of high school, and their last year of being seniors. jun, with a different outfit then she always has on, which was a button up pink shirt with a red skirt. She had her hair down. jun still couldn't stop thinking about what had happened a few days ago. She couldn't believe it had come to that when her and NAOKI break up.

_B-but... it's all Hop's fault for causing this... _jun thought, tears starting to roll down her face. _Or is it mine to be with Hop in the first place...?_ She started sobbing on her book she was holding in her arms, making Bossa and Bridget notice, running up to jun.

"What's wrong?" Bridget asked jun, looking at her with a concerned look on her face. She didn't like seeing jun like this, even Bossa didn't.  
"I'm...I'm still thinking about what happened before school started up again." jun said, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "I feel like it's all my fault."

"Don't say that jun." Bossa said. "It's not your fault. It was Hop's. He shouldn't have done this."  
"Yeah!" Bridget agreed. "He's way too jealous of NAOKI being with you. Hop shouldn't have caused that to happen.  
jun smiled, then frowned, nodding her head. "Thanks, Bossa...Bridget.. but I think it's not his." She ran from the two girls, sobbing again. Bridget and Bossa just stood there, knowing that if they ran after her to try to console her again, it wouldn't work.

After jun went to her classes for the morning and it was almost time for lunch, she walked down the hallway to find her locker. As she began to open it to put her books in, she felt a tap on her shoulder, making her jump and turn around to see who it was.

"N-NAOKI?" she said, when she saw the blond haired, red eyed boy in front of her. "A-are you still mad at me?"

"No, I'm not. " NAOKI said. "I just want to aplogize."

"For what...?" jun asked, her eyes widening in shock.  
"I'm sorry for saying those things to you. I was so angry and didn't know what I was saying. I had jumped to conclusions when I heard Hop and you arguing. I...I thought you guys were back together, and that you didn't tell me that you were with him again..." he hugged jun, tears forming in his eyes. "Again, I'm so sorry...I still love you..."

jun smiled, responding to his aplogy with a hug. "I still love you too... I never want this to happen again."  
"I don't either." NAOKI said, pulling back from jun, with his hands in hers. "So... do you want to be my girlfriend again?"  
"Yes!" jun said, hugging him tight. They both didn't notice that they had already spent a few minutes there, and there was nobody in the hallways, so when they did, they ran like lightning to the cafeteria.

When school was over for the day, NAOKI had his arm around jun's shoulders, with jun resting her head on his,walking out of the building. Rena, seeing the two, ran up to them, grinning. "So you guys got back together again?"  
"Yes we did!" jun said, smiling. "I'm so happy!"  
Rena smiled, glad to see her best friend feeling better. Bridget and Nova, who were with Rena, heard from her what happened, and they smiled,happy to hear it.

But what they didn't see who was behind the tree while jun and NAOKI were walking by... it was Hop again, looking at NAOKI with an evil glare.

"I'm going to get jun again if I have to fight NAOKI..." Hop muttered.


	5. (Almost) A Fight

It's been a few days after jun and NAOKI got back together. Since the weekend was almost over, the two decided to spend some time together in the park,due to their feet hurting from walking a lot. As they sat down at the bench, jun sulked down and looked up that the sky. Seeing her concern, NAOKI looked at her, putting his hand on hers.

"What's wrong,jun?" he asked her.  
"Well..." jun said, "I'm worried that Hop is going to cause trouble again soon..."  
"Why? He hasn't bothered us for days."  
"NAOKI... you know he might. He hasn't learned his lesson,remember?"  
"Oh..."NAOKI said. "But don't worry so much about it. You make me sad when you're gloomy." he smiled, trying to cheer her up.

"Thanks,NAOKI." jun said, kissing him on the cheek, then wrapped her arms around NAOKI's waist. "I'm starting to feel a little better." As they looked up at the sky, NAOKI ran his fingers through jun's hair,smiling, and while he did that, jun's eyes started to close as she fell asleep.

NAOKI, when he looked at his clock, due to wondering what time it was, woke jun up, and led her to her house. jun yawned and laid her head on his shoulder. After he had done that, he started yawning too, so he started to get ready for bed when he got inside his house.

The next day, as NAOKI got out of bed and got on his clothes, he noticed a letter on his window. Confused, he took the letter off and looked at it. His eyes widened in shock as he read it.

It said:  
To NAOKI:

_I'm going to get you this time for taking jun away from me. Your "lesson" on me when you stood up for her didn't work on me that well, so you might as well watch your back this afternoon._

- Hop

NAOKI's fingers shaked as he folded the letter up and put it in the trash. _Man..._ NAOKI thought, eyes still widened in the same expression. _He's really gone too far..._ He looked back at the trash can where he had tossed the piece of paper in. He thought for a minute, then took it back out as he left his room.

When he got down the stairs, he saw that his mom had already made breakfast for him. Curious of the paper that NAOKI was holding his hand, she asked, "Who'd you get that letter from?"

"It's from Hop..." he said, sighing and giving her the letter. "Read it."  
She took the letter from him, and as her eyes scanned the paper, she gasped. "Why would he do this to you?"

NAOKI shrugged. "I guess he has had enough of me dating jun, also that he used to date her before I did, it seems."  
His mother folded up the paper and put it on the table. "Well... do you have plans with jun today?"  
"No, I don't... I haven't thought of some, since I just woke up."

"Oh,okay. I was just wondering." his mom said, as she pulled the chair out for NAOKI as he goes to sit down to eat. Just at that moment, NAOKI's dad walked down the stairs,yawning.  
NAOKI's mother walked up to her husband and give him a good morning kiss on the cheek. "Would you like some coffee,dear?"

"Yes, that would be fine." he said, yawning again. As he walked into the kitchen, he glanced over his shoulder and saw the piece of paper next to NAOKI. He looked at his wife, then whispered to her, "What is that on the table? His progress report from the school?"

"No, it isn't." she said, getting it from the table to give to him. "It's something serious." NAOKI's father, when he received the paper, his jaw dropped open after he read it.  
"W-Why would he want to hurt him?!" he said, looking up at his wife in shock.

"To get his revenge... but we need to find a way to stop him."  
NAOKI looked at his father as he put his bowl in the sink, putting some water in it. "How can you do that...?"  
"Like I said, we need to think of something... it might take a while."  
"Well... I guess I'll go out and hang out with jun for a bit." NAOKI said, as he opened the front door to leave. "See you guys later."

NAOKI closed the door behind him as his feet touched the patio, and walked over to jun's house. After waiting for a few minutes as he knocked on the door, jun opened it, looking at him, yawning. "Good Morning..." she said, rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of them. "What brings you here at a time like this?"

"I'm... just wondering if you would like to hang out with me later on today?"  
"Sure. I have to get ready so it will take a couple of minutes." jun said. She blows NAOKI a kiss before she closes the door. Sighing, NAOKI went back to his house and sat down on the patio, thinking of what to do. He didn't want to go back into his house, since they are still thinking. He, for some reason, didn't want to go to the DDR studio to spend some time there, which he usually does sometimes when he's bored. _Well..._ he thought to himself, _What_ can _I do?_

As he thought, he played with his bangs, which made the time pass quickly. He flinched as he heard jun close the door behind her, and ran up to him. "What are you doing?" she asked him,giggling a little bit.  
"Oh! I was just trying to think of what to do while waiting for you, but I guess I completely forgot about what to think about." he said, laughing as he put his arm around jun's shoulder.

"So..." jun said,tilting her head to the side. "Where do you want to go?"  
"Anywhere you want to go." NAOKI said,shrugging.  
"Okay...how about the arcade at the mall?"  
"That's fine with me."  
As him and jun started walking, NAOKI moved his hand off of jun's shoulder, and put his hand in hers. jun blushed, smiling, and put her head on his shoulder. When they get to the arcade, jun goes to get some coins for them to play the games. As NAOKI is waiting for her, he hears footsteps in the distance. They become louder each minute, and as he glances to see who it is that's coming, he gulps.

It was Hop. NAOKI turned around and looked at him.

"Well,well,well. I caught you just in time with my girl, didn't I?" Hop said, smirking as he cracked his knuckles "So...are you ready?" jun looked over at the two for a second after she got the coins, and almost dropped the cup when she saw Hop.

She started to back away as he looked over his shoulder at her. Hop, focusing his attention back on NAOKI, raising his hand up to slap NAOKI across the face. But before he could, a hand grabbed his wrist tightly. "Whoever that is, let go of my-"  
he stopped his sentence when he saw it was NAOKI's dad.

"Don't you dare touch my son!" he said. "I don't know what made you want to do this to him, but leave him and jun alone. Got it?!"  
"Y-Yes... ..." Hop said, gulping, backing away, then running. When he was out of sight, jun ran over to NAOKI and hugged him.

"Are you alright,NAOKI?" she asked him.  
"Yeah... I'm fine." NAOKI said, sighing. "Man, that was close. He almost hit me, but thanks to my dad, he didn't."  
NAOKI's dad put his hand on his son's shoulder.  
"I hope he doesn't bother you two again." he said to him. "If he lays a hand on you again, he's going to-"  
"Dad... I think he might learn his lesson soon enough." Not saying anything, his dad nodded, and led jun and NAOKI back to their neighborhood and houses. NAOKI's mom,who was with NAOKI's dad the whole time, ran to catch up with them.


	6. Engagement

A few months later, after Christmas,New Year's Day and all the other holidays has passed, it was May, the last month of school for the students, including jun and NAOKI. They were both 18 now, and so were the other dancers. Some were excited to leave the school for the summer, some weren't.

As jun and NAOKI were walking down the sidewalk to go to the dance studio, jun had her head on NAOKI's shoulder, with a smile on her face and a light blush.  
"I'm glad that high school's over." jun said, breaking the silence,also getting NAOKI's attention.  
"I'm glad it is too." NAOKI said,sighing. "I sure do hope that Hop learned his lesson a couple months back."  
"Yeah...I hope so too.I heard that his father got after him."  
"Oh he did?" NAOKI said, kind of surprised.  
jun nodded. "But it's a good thing, though."

Nodding in agreement, NAOKI smiled as he and jun arrived at the dance studio,him opening the door first. jun looked back at him and smiled as he closed the door behind them. "It's quiet in here." he said, looking around. "That's odd." All of a sudden, he saw Disco appear. Unlike his usual self, he had a broom in his hand, which meant he was cleaning up the place, but NAOKI and jun were not sure why.

"Hey Disco!" NAOKI said, getting the man's attention. "What's happening here...? Why is this place so silent?"  
A frown was put on Disco's face. "Sorry to tell you this, NAOKI and jun...but I heard that we have to close this studio down." jun gasped. "We were told to move somewhere else, which is in the same state, but farther away, so it won't be in your neighborhood again."  
"Oh my god..." NAOKI said, shocked. "Are you serious?!" Disco nodded, not saying anything as he went back to cleaning.

NAOKI and jun couldn't believe this was happening. jun,crying, slowly looked at NAOKI,who was also crying. "I guess that's why nodbody's here..." jun said.  
"Yeah...I guess so." NAOKI said, turning his head away from jun to think for a moment. _...This place has been here for most of our lives...I hate to see it go ..._ Turning to Disco, _I would hate to see him leave here. Even my friends._ He wiped the tears from his eyes, and seeing jun,helped wipe the tears from hers.

"I guess we should be leaving now..." jun said as her and NAOKI went to the door, but were stopped by Disco.  
"I forgot to tell you guys something." Disco said. "There might be some good news after all. If we find out that we don't have to move, then we're staying. If we don't, that means we'll have to."

"Oh, that's awesome!" NAOKI and jun both said at the same time, not even noticing that as a smile came upon both of their faces.

Disco smiled, then started going back to what he was doing. "And one more thing." he said right as NAOKI and jun headed out the door. "You guys and the other dancers have the day off, due to me having to clean up the place."  
"Thanks..." jun said, starting to get concerned. "Do you want any help cleaning?"  
"No, but thank you jun. I can do this on my own."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes." Disco said, as NAOKI closed the door behind him and jun.

Both of them turned around as they went back home. NAOKI,then noticing something, stopped and dug into his pocket. Finally getting it out, he hid it behind his back.  
"jun." NAOKI said, getting her attention. "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it-" jun went to say, but when she saw NAOKI bend down on one knee and opened the small box, she gasped, tears forming in her eyes.  
"Will you...marry me?" NAOKI said, trying his best to keep his balance, since his leg that was bent wasn't on the ground.  
"Yes..." jun said, covering her mouth with her hands. NAOKI held out his hand to jun to put the ring on, and as he got up, jun hugged him tight and give him a kiss on the lips.

Smiling,NAOKI returned it as they both pulled back and went back to walking home.


	7. Dance-Off

The next day, as NAOKI threw his covers aside and got out of bed, he pulled his messy blonde hair away from his eyes, lifting up his hand over his mouth, yawning. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he walked up to the mirror,reaching out for the brush that was next to it on the desk. With a deep sigh, he looked up at the calendar above him, wondering what day it was.

Thankfully, it was the 21st of December, the day school lets out for winter break. _That reminds me..._ NAOKI thought as he started remembering what had happened yesterday,_ What can I do to help Disco out to help save the DDR studio? ...Throw a Christmas party? No...well, what about...no...I'll just ask jun then. _Shaking his head to get rid of being tired, he put on his clothes and went downstairs.

His mother,as usual, had his breakfast on the table. He pushed the chair out and sat down, pushing the chair back in. As he ate, his father came into the room. "I heard about the studio yesterday," he said as he sat down with NAOKI,setting down his coffee, "so Disco has to shut it down because it's going out of business?"  
"Yeah..." NAOKI said, a little sad. "The other dancers and I,including jun, are going to miss it when it's gone...so I've been trying to think of something to stop it from going away...but nothing so far," he looked up at his dad, "do you have any ideas?"

NAOKI's father thought for a moment. "...Sadly, no I don't. But you could ask your mom when she comes down. She has just gotten up." As he got up, he picked up his coffee cup and then sat down on the couch in the living room. After NAOKI was done eating, he saw his mother come down just as he was walked into the room.

"I guess you heard the news too about the studio,Mom?" he asked her.  
"Yes I did." NAOKI's mom said,covering her mouth to yawn.  
"Well.." NAOKI said, rubbing his hand behind his neck. "I've wanted to do something for Disco so he doesn't have to shut it down, but my mind keeps on going blank. Any ideas?"  
"...You can probably have dance off, kind of a like a competion."  
NAOKI's face lighted up. "That's a great idea!" he said, hugging his mom,then ran to the front door, "I'll be back later."

As NAOKI's mom watched him leave, she looked at her husband. "I guess that made his day." she said,giggling, with NAOKI's father nodding in agreement.

A little while later, NAOKI's feet hit the patio as he came to jun's house. Gladly, it seemed that she was fully awake when she answered the door. "Good morning," she said, stretching, "what brings you here this early, NAOKI?"  
"I've thought of an idea to help save the DDR studio."  
jun's eyes widened in surprise. "You did?" NAOKI nodded. "Well,what is it...?" She was starting to get a little eager.

"We could hold a dance off at the studio. My mom had given me the idea," he said, laughing nervously. "But isn't that awesome?"  
With no response, jun smiled, and gave NAOKI a long,tight hug. "Yes. Yes it is!"  
"We have to call Disco and see what he thinks about it."  
"Good idea!" jun said as NAOKI dug into his pocket and dialed Disco's phone number, and after a few minutes, he picked up.

"Hey guys!" Disco said, with it being pretty obvious he was near the studio already. "How's it going?"  
NAOKI went to lift his finger to respond, but jun snatched the phone out of his hands. "We just wanted to let you know that NAOKI has thought of doing a dance-off to help the studio."  
No response.  
"...Is he okay?" NAOKI asked.  
"I think so..." jun said, right as Disco did almost a fanboyish scream.

"He did?!" Disco said, delighted." That...that's awesome! I will tell the others right now," and then he hung up. After NAOKI put his phone back, he looked at jun in shock, who in turn had the same exact expression.  
"Was that... a scream?" jun said, laughing a little bit.  
"I guess. It sounded like a fangirl's scream." NAOKI said, laughing also as they went to the studio, after jun had told her parents she will be back in a while.

Right as NAOKI went inside the studio with jun, he almost jumped to see lots of other dancers there, including, Rage,Emi, Yuni, Alice and Zero from the other DDR studios.  
"Disco..." NAOKI said in shock as he saw the man coming towards him. "You called all of them here?"  
"Yep." he said with a big grin,which went back to a smile. "Why?"  
"...I was just surprised to them here, that's all..." NAOKI said.

"Well, what are you going to do for the competition thing,NAOKI?" Emi asked him,curious.  
"...I haven't thought of anything yet, Emi."  
"Not anything?" Yuni asked.  
NAOKI sighed. "Yes..."

"How about we split up into teams?" Rage broke in. "That way we can see who wins."  
"And if it's a success, that means the studio can be saved!" Alice added.  
Everyone else in the room cheered in agreement.

"We could get people to watch us do the competition by announcing it on TV," jun said, smiling."  
"How are we going to do that?" Hop said, who came in with his new girlfriend, Nova. "...The commerical will take a long time to make."  
"Not if you have Disco with you," NAOKI said, pointing to him.

So...after a few hours later, tons of people had come into the studio to see the competition. NAOKI had just gotten the stage ready when Hip tapped his shoulder.  
"Sorry to bother you, but...is this supposed to kind of be a dance competition/ performance thingy?" Hip asked him, kind of nervous since they're going to be doing this in front of a whole crowd.  
"Pretty much." NAOKI said, fixing up the curtains a little bit. "And you weren't bothering me at all."  
"That's good to know." Hip said, smiling, and left to get ready.

"Okay,everyone!" Disco said, getting on the stage,quieting anyone down that were talking. "As you know, we're going to be having a dance competition and performance thing to help save the studio. All the thanks go to NAOKI." A lot of people cheered as NAOKI got up on the stage, with a blue tuxedo and a black bowtie, and to Disco's surprise, sunglasses.

"NAOKI...why are you wearing those...?" NAOKI shushed him before he could finish, then whispered to him, "Wait a minute and you will see."  
Just as he said that, a lot of the dancers showed up in the costumes, including jun, who was dressed up as the girl. Hip, who couldn't find anything else to wear, had to dress up as the yellow-suited guy. With a cough, NAOKI looked at the DJ in the corner, and nodded at him to start the music, one half of the dancers going to the left, and the other half to the right. When the music came on, NAOKI joined the left team, with his fiancee, jun and the others, and then started the dance-off.

Disco looked at them in complete shock. "Don't tell me that's..."  
"Gangnam Style!" NAOKI said, laughing. "You didn't know?"  
Not saying a word, Disco couldn't hold his smile much longer, and burst out laughing as he watched them dancing.

When the event was over, the audience left and the dancers went to their studio rooms to get back into their normal clothes. jun and NAOKI, who were done before some of the others, walked out together into the studio,and right when they got there, Disco popped from out of nowhere in front of them, scaring them both.

"Sorry if I surprised you guys," Disco said, laughing, "but I wanted to thank you ever so much for helping out the studio."  
They both nodded.  
"And I have some really good news!"  
"What?" NAOKI and jun asked, curiously.  
"Well...right after the dance off, I had noticed I had gotten a call from the company that had said that our studio had to be shut down...but when I found out that they had seen the dance off on TV, they said I can keep it after all!"  
NAOKI and jun both looked at each other for a moment, a little shocked of finding this out from Disco, then looked at him with glowing faces, hugging him tight.

"That's awesome!" jun said when she and NAOKI pulled back from hugging the man. "Have you told the others yet?"  
Disco thought for a minute. "No,no I haven't." he said, ashamed of himself for not telling the dancers firsthand, "But I will inform them now." As he dashed to the hallway, he waved goodbye to the two, then disappeared out of sight. Sighing, NAOKI and jun left the studio and started heading for the park.

"I'm glad that the studio got saved," jun said,smiling.  
"I am too," NAOKI said, "If it wasn't,then you and me both,including our friends, would be horrified."  
"Yeah..." jun said,sighing happily,then turning her head to face NAOKI. "And it's all thanks to you."  
"Pffft." NAOKI said, laughing. "You know that you and the others also helped me out."  
jun giggled, and leaned in to give NAOKI a kiss on the cheek, making him blush.

Not saying anything,NAOKI smiled,returning the kiss as they got to the park.


	8. Wedding DaySort Of

After a few weeks had passed since NAOKI proposed to jun, it was two more days left until their wedding day. NAOKI, who was at his house, was walking in circles in his room, pulling the bow on his shirt due to being nervous and stressed. Ever since this morning, he's been thinking of a good design for the wedding and what people will be coming. He found out from his dad that his relatives, which includes his cousins,aunts and uncles, are arriving also, so that made it hard on his nerves.

As he made another round, he heard a knock at the door, and sighing in both frustration and relief, answered it. "What's wrong,NAOKI?" Hip asked, going to his bed and sitting on it. "You look like you've just failed an important geometry test."  
"I..." NAOKI was kind of speechless for a minute, since he's been thinking," I am trying to think of a good decoration for me and my fiancee jun, but I can't think of any perfect ones."  
"Well," Hip shrugged, scratching his head. "That's not good...but I have some good news, which is why I came here."

Shocked, NAOKI turned around to look at him, his tenseness decreasing. "You do...?"  
Hip nodded. "My uncle owns a design and jewelry store down the road from our neighborhood. He has helped lots of people, including some with wedding design problems, so he can help you out."  
NAOKI all of a sudden had the urge to hug Hip for helping him solve his problem, but knowing that Hip had a girlfriend, smiled. "Thank you very much,dude." he said.

Hip grinned, and starts to walk to the door. "You can come with me now if you want to,NAOKI." he said before putting his hand on the doorknob, turning to face NAOKI. "If not that's okay."  
Not saying anything, NAOKI nodded, and followed Hip as they went down the stairs.

Both NAOKI's mom and dad were gone to go shopping, so NAOKI had the house to himself and had the responsibility to keep an eye on it while he was there, so as the two boys left the house, NAOKI locked the door, then slammed it behind him.  
While Hip was leading NAOKI to the building, jun came out of her house, and started to follow them.

"So where are you guys going?" she said, making NAOKI jump in surprise.  
"Ummm...Hip and I are going to go shopping for something."NAOKI said, wanting to keep the wedding a secret, but knowing that jun would find out sooner or later if she went with them, cleared his throat. "Let me rephrase that...Hip and I are going to see his uncle to find arrangements for the wedding."

jun's eyes beamed. "Is that so?" NAOKI, laughing a little at her reaction,nodded,then asked her, "You want to come?"  
Speechless, jun nodded and skipped happily as they continued their trek.

"Hey,nephew!" Hip's uncle greeted him as the threee arrived at the store. "Nice to see you again."  
Hugging him,Hip smiled. "Same to you too." Hip's uncle, noticing NAOKI and jun, waved to them, getting the wave back from them, then looked back at Hip. "I see you've brought friends with you." he said excitedly, sensing that they came here for help. "Who are they?"

"Well..." Hip said, presenting NAOKI to his uncle with his hand, "This is NAOKI, one of my best friends," Then, doing the same thing to jun, "And this is jun, his fiancee. They're planning to get married in a couple of days."

"That's sweet," his uncle said, grinning, "And I assume they're here for some design tips?" Not saying a word, Hip shook his head.  
Knowing that it was a yes, he clapped his hands and shifted them together, ready to help the two lovers out. Opening the door for them, he closed it behind him as jun and NAOKI gazed at the beautiful had yellow walls, which were almost white in color, and was covered in shelves with different variations of designs, down from holiday deisgns and up to big events. It also had laces woven around the ceiling, with jewelry hanging from it. NAOKI, to himself, thought it made the store look a little too girly, but he liked how it looked.

"So what are you guys wanting me to help you out with?" Hip's uncle asked, clapping his hands to get the couple's attention, making their train of thoughts go down the drain.  
Taking a few minutes to think of what to say, NAOKI raised his index finger. "I've been thinking of the decorations for the chairs,tables and the alter for the wedding...even though my dad told me not to worry, that he's going to take care of it...I'm still having trouble..."

"Hmmm...well, if that's the problem, then I can fix it!" Hip's uncle said as he went to the wedding aisle to get the designs,then when he came back, he looked up at NAOKI as he showed him the laces,which had pretty small pink jewels on them. "Are you planning to keep them white as they are...or changing the color?"  
"I want to keep them with their ordinary color."  
"Okay...what about the chairs then?"  
"Oh, I have some at my house my dad has whenever that are big events...I can bring them tommorow if you want."  
Hip's uncle smiled. "That seems fine with me! Same thing goes for the table?" NAOKI nodded.

"I had just remembered that I forgot them at home." NAOKI added,laughing. "Sorry if I-"  
"Wait! I have some chairs to show you the designs I just thought of!" Hip's uncle interrupted before NAOKI could finish his sentence.  
When Hip's uncle returned back with them, he showed the blonde-haired boy the frilly designs on the chairs.  
"Do you want me to come to your house tommorow to put these decorations on them?"  
Not knowing what to say, NAOKI slowly nodded.  
"Alrighty then!" he said, doing his applauding again, then putting the samples back where they were,then wondering what time it was, looked at his watch.

"It looks like it's time to close now," he sighed, waving the three goodbye as they left. "See ya guys later. And I'll see you tommorow..."  
"Afternoon,which is a good time to come." NAOKI smiled.  
"Alrighty then..." Hip's uncle said, taking out his keys to lock the door shut after turning off the lights in the store."

Right as NAOKI and the others went out of the store, he rested his big hand on NAOKI's shoulder,getting his attention. "And by the way, NAOKI." he said, smiling. "You and your fiancee can call me Steven. My nephew already knows my name, he just doesn't say it often."

"I will," NAOKI said, catching up to jun and Hip, who were almost at the neighborhood.

It was February 10th, the day of NAOKI and jun's wedding. Steven,who had helped NAOKI with the decorations on the chairs,tables, and fixing up the alter, since they were at a wedding ceremony for the event, decided to be one of the groomsmen, since Hip was also one of them. NAOKI's relatives, who most of them were bridesmaids, not much of them were groomsmen, participated also. The older relatives chatted with each other and their friends, while the little ones played around, waiting for the time to come.

Tapping his foot, NAOKI fixed his bow on his tuxedo. He combed his hair back a little bit for the occasion, and had to fix some little pieces of hair that popped up. jun, on the other hand, was getting help from her mother and some of her friends, which included Rena, Chordia, Bossa, Nova and the other female dancers.

"You look beautiful,honey," jun's mother said, admiring her wedding dress, which was like jun's dancing clothes, but instead of rose emprinted on the clothing, it had pink and yellow daisies.  
"Thank you, Mom." jun said, smiling and blushing the whole time. She was so excited for this day to come, she felt like she was going to cry, which she did.

"Are you alright,jun?" Rena asked.  
"I'm fine,Rena, I'm fine." jun said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm...just happy that this day came...also to marry my friend from yours and my childhood...NAOKI." Sighing, she looked at herself again in the mirror to see her hair, which was braided with pink petals to hold it up.

Getting a little nervous and joyful about the time, Nova looked out the window to see that the pastor was already at the alter. "Hey girls!" she said, getting the womens' attention. "The pastor is here! Come on!" The girls squealed as they left the room, and as they were getting to the ball, Rena put her arm around jun's shoulder, making jun look at her, both in surprise and shock.

"I'm proud of you, jun..." Rena said, tears forming in her eyes while a smile came upon her lips. "I really am. I hope your wedding goes great."  
"Thank you so much!" jun said, grinning from ear to ear as she joined NAOKI at the alter.

As the pastor was about to prepare the wedding and start with the speech after everyone was seated, Alex, who is NAOKI's nephew, came up to him, with a worried look on his face. The whole group looked at him with concern, wondering what was wrong and why he's doing this at this time.

"NAOKI..." he said, catching his breath. "Sorry I'm late, but... I need to tell you something that's really devastating..."

"What? What is it?" NAOKI asked, wanting to find out."

"...Your dad's brother, Uncle Kaoki," he said, gasping for air. "He's dead...he was killed in a car accident."

NAOKI was in complete shock. "...WHAT?!"

"That's what I heard...but you guys need to come to the funeral. Now. The wedding has been canceled for today."  
A groan was heard from everyone as they got up and started to leave, and Alex, leaving with the rest of NAOKI's nephews and nieces, quietly hid his face in his tuxedo, tears rolling down his amber-colored eyes.

After everyone was gone, except for jun,Hip and some of the dancers, NAOKI just stood there in complete disgrace and shock.

_This can't be..._ NAOKI thought as he remembered his Uncle Kaoki, who he was named after, and how much he meant to NAOKI...

Crying, NAOKI put his hands on his face, hiding his tears.

_This can't be...it really...can't..._


	9. The Funeral, with a Shocking Twist

It was a silent drive to the funeral. NAOKI and jun were sitting in the back seat of the blond boy's parent's car,with jun's parents and the others driving behind them. NAOKI was leaning foward,with his head down and tears running down his face,which was getting the car floor a little wet. jun,who had been looking at NAOKI, sighed as tears formed in her eyes. She didn't like seeing NAOKI like this. It broke her heart whenever he cried...especially now that he's heard that his most favorite uncle in the world, Kaoki, has died.

Leaning in and putting a hand on NAOKI's shoulder, she started to speak. "NAOKI...I know you're heartbroken because of your uncle dying and all...but your uncle would want you to be strong,and it hurts me to see you like this."  
Her fiancee looked up at her, his red eyes that seemed to look like a light pink due to them being glassy,and nodded. "Yeah...but jun...you have to remember that he was someone that's hard to forget...someone that I was very close to." he took a second to wipe the tears from his eyes,"...I just...can't believe that's he's dead."  
"I can't either," jun said,sighing. "But you understand very well that if you let this keep bothering you...then you're going to end up getting depressed and sad all the time, like you did when other members of your family have died."

NAOKI gave her a confused look,but then realized what she had meant. "Well,that is more personal than the other ones,jun. You know that. You've known this since we were kids. You and your parents were good friends of Uncle Kaoki. You guys always ran into us as he was picking me up from elementary school on the days when my parents had to work a lot."

jun nodded and sighed,hugging her fiancee tight as tears rolled down her face. "But please do not say such things like that...that you're going to get more melancholy than you are now."  
NAOKI hugged her back,and let out a long,sad, sigh. "I know...it's just that...I...loved him very much."

Right as he finished that sentence,the car screeched to a halt,and NAOKI,taken by surprise, jerked foward and face-planted the back of the driver's seat in front of him.  
As jun helped him get out of the car,and saw the other people getting out, she giggled a little, a bit happy for the sad conversation that her and NAOKI had in the car. "Well...it looks like we're here."

"Yeah..." NAOKI said, with his right hand slightly on his forehead, "here."  
As him and the others sat down in the chairs, NAOKI noticed the coffin in front of him...the coffin that now has his favorite uncle's body inside of it. As tears slowly formed in his eyes,he looked to the right and saw a picture of Kaoki before his death. The semi-long blond hair, the green eyes, the brown mustache and beard, and not to mention the red plaid shirt that his uncle loved to wear...is something that won't leave NAOKI's mind,even at this time. As he stared at it and remembered the old times with his uncle, he felt his vision getting a little blurry due to his eyes becoming glassy once more. He tried his best to get rid of the tears,but they wouldn't stop running down.

He looked over at his relatives,including Alex,hoping that would make the sadness go away,but it only made it worse. Letting out a huge sigh and sobbing, NAOKI leaned forward,and covered his face as he rested his head on his legs. jun,who was looking at the coffin as well, heard her fiancee mourning,and put her hand on his back,knowing that she can not hug him right now...that she can not stand to see NAOKI like this.

_...Please,NAOKI..._ jun thought, feeling tears running down her face, _Please...stop crying...it's just going to make you more woeful than you already are...just please...stop._  
...And, to jun's surprise, NAOKI did stop his long moment of sobbing...and was unusually quiet. He slowly looked up at the coffin, and stood up, with his eyes no longer hazy. jun could see that he still had the sad expression on his face...but the expression was mixed in with determination, like he was ready to fight a fearsome dragon.  
As NAOKI walked over to the casket, he slightly laid his hand on it, then sit down beside it. He glanced at the photo of his uncle, felt the sorrow coming back in, but pushed it away. He then lowered his head, looking at the lid of his uncle's final resting place, and closed his eyes.

Everyone could hear a faint whisper come from NAOKI, but couldn't tell what he was saying, except for NAOKI himself. "Uncle Kaoki..." he said, taking a deep breath first, "Even though you can't hear me, or see me anymore...I just want to let you know...that you meant everything to me. You had helped me through the tough times I've had when I was kid to now...and you've helped my mother and your brother through their hard times too. You were loved by all of us...but you...you..uncle Kaoki...were loved by me the most."

As he sighed, a bunch of rose petals flew into the room, softly flowing with the breeze. Some of NAOKI's family members, including his parents watched in awe as the petals slowly landed on top of the coffin, adding a beautiful decoration to it. NAOKI, after a couple of minutes, stood up, and went back to where he was sitting with jun.

He could tell everyone was looking at him, shocked at what they had seen. NAOKI sighed, feeling a little embarrassed. "Why are you guys staring at me like that? All I did was try to think of something to make myself feel happy and not depressed anymore."  
"NAOKI..." jun said, getting the blonde's attention...but when he saw his face, with the same old cute smile that she always likes and those red, beamy eyes, she surprised him with a big hug, and getting one in return from NAOKI.

_

The rest of the day went fine after the funeral. jun and NAOKI, still a little disappointed about the wedding being postponed, continued going on their dates while NAOKI's relatives and friends went on doing what they usually did.  
NAOKI was acting more cheerful,despite his grief. jun was also acting happy. But there was something that jun has not let NAOKI know yet.

A few days had passed,and it was now March 9th. NAOKI had been thinking about a good date for him and jun to finally get married and not have anything interrupt it when he had gotten a phone call. Since he didn't have a phone in his room,he rushed downstairs to answer it before it went to the voicemail.  
Gasping and out of breath,NAOKI answered it. "Hello?"

"Good afternoon,NAOKI!" a happy and beamy voice said,which he could tell was jun's. "I have some good news for you!"  
NAOKI smiled. "And what is that?" he asked, kind of curious to find out.  
"My parents and I are having a family reunion at our house!"  
"Really?"  
"Yeah! It's been so long since I've seen all my aunts,uncles,nieces,and nephews last!"  
"That's awesome,jun! And I'm guessing you want me to come visit?"  
"Yes! I've already asked my parents,and they said it's fine...and..." jun's words trailed off,like she had forgotten what to say.

"...And?" NAOKI said,feeling a little confused of why jun did that.  
jun smiled and laughed nervously. "Oh...it's nothing. Don't worry about it. But as I had said, you're allowed to come over and meet my family."  
NAOKI sighed in relief,but as he went to say something, jun had gotten quiet for a second then got back on the phone."I have to go now,NAOKI. My mother needs me help! Bye!" And then she hung up.

NAOKI felt really baffled of why jun ended the conversation like that,but did not let it bother him. He went off to go tell his mother and father of where he was going.

_

The wheels of 's car screeched to a halt as him,his wife, and son pulled up into the driveway of jun's house,and got out. looked up at the house and sighed. "I wonder how many relatives your girlfriend has,NAOKI." Mrs. Maeda said. "I know we have a lot of uncles,aunts and other relatives on our side of the family...but she may have more than we do."

NAOKI smiled,laughing. "She probably does,Mom. Who knows?"  
As they step foot into the room after being greeted by jun's father, the three had a absolutely shocked look on their faces,with NAOKI's eyes widened and his jaw literally dropped. In front of them, they saw a ton of people,varying from 5 nephews and nieces to like 10 uncles and aunts. NAOKI and his parents couldn't believe their eyes.

_How in the world..._ all three of them thought, _can this be even possible?! _They watched as people passed by them and some chatting away.  
The blonde boy's parents tried their best to start some conversations with jun's relatives,but it was a little difficult to do so since it seemed that the relatives didn't even notice that they were there. NAOKI himself was having the same problem, but he was trying his best to find jun. He remembered that she told him that her mother needed her assistance,so he put that aside for right now. He decided to find someone that wasn't deep in a conversation or busy at the moment...and was lucky to find one,until he went to say hello and saw the face of someone he hasn't liked since he was a toddler...and gasped.

"Well,well,son of ." The old man said, snickering a little. "We meet again...after all these years.


	10. A Face From the Past

NAOKI's heart sank as his red eyes met with the blue eyes of the old man. The blonde-haired boy felt his memories from his childhood play in his head, and small trickles of sweat ran down from his forehead.

"Well, well, well, son of Rodrick Maeda," The old man smirked, "We meet again."  
NAOKI did not know what to say. His mouth dropped open in surprise. How can this old man know him, after so many years? There has to be an explanation for this.  
NAOKI's lungs filled with air, then let a sharp exhale escape as he went to speak. "... , I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but, how do you know me and my father, even since my childhood?"

The old man let a chuckle escape his throat, "The face of Rodrick Maeda and his son will never leave my mind. Their faces are burned inside my head...I will never forget them."  
Baffled of what the old man said that, NAOKI lifted up his finger to speak, but then jun came running down the stairs, somehow sensing that this was going to happen.

"NAOKI, please!" The voice of his concerned fiancee boomed across the room, making all conversations screech to a halt.  
NAOKI's eyebrows furrowed as he turned to look at her, "What is it?...Am I doing something wrong?"  
jun's expression saddened as she walked over to the blonde-haired boy, her tone lowered, "No...not all, it's just that...I can't tell you much of the story."  
Her fiancee's burgundy eyes stared into her magenta eyes, mixed with confusion and fear, "W-What do you mean?"

jun, to his surprise, didn't say a word, lifting her head up, she looked over at NAOKI's parents, then as NAOKI's father and jun's eyes met, she sadly nodded to him. She then met eyes with her fiancee again, a slight smile coming across her face. It was mostly of the sorrow being created in her heart, and slowly escalating up to her eyes. Tears escaped from them, but not many, as jun tried to control them.

"Your father...will be able to tell you more about it than I can, NAOKI."

NAOKI's eyes widened in shock, his short, blonde hair moving with the motion of his head. He looked at his father, and one nod meant that he understood. Looking at the old man, and then his son, Rodrick led NAOKI outside to the backyard, closing the door behind them.

As they stood outside, NAOKI could feel the breeze of the wind on his face, his blond hair whipping along with it. NAOKI casted his eyes upon the blowing grass, then casted them upon his father.  
"...So jun told me that you might be able to tell me why said that...about him not forgetting the face of us two?"  
Rodrick's green eyes slightly widened in fear as he let that question into his head. The sudden memories from when he was a teenager suddenly came back into his head, some of them being with jun's grandfather.  
Trickles of sweat started to run down from Rodrick's forehead as he remembered one of them...which he was hoping to avoid thinking about.  
"Are you alright, Dad?" The voice of his son made him come back to his senses.  
"I'm fine. Why?"  
"Well, you got nervous when I asked you that question."  
Rodrick let a small laugh escape his throat, "Oh, that?" He then pursed his lips. "Well...when you asked that question, it unlocked a memory that I've kept in my heart, one that I've tried not to remember."  
His clover-eyed father then closed his eyes, his mind going back to that day.

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It was another busy day at work. Rodrick, who was 16 at the time, was busy stacking papers when he heard the clacking of shoes as a person stepped inside the building.  
"Hey, Samuel!" Rodrick called to the man in a cheerful tone. "How was your vacation?"  
The man smiled, "Good! It was nice to take a break from this place."

Rodrick let a chuckle escape his throat as he averted his attention back to the papers, still paying attention to Samuel, "Tell me about it."

Samuel exhaled with a smile, and walked to his office. Rodrick then sighed, and plopped down on his chair. Putting the papers he was stacking aside, he typed away at the keyboard, finishing the document that is due a few hours from now.

A sharp exhale came from Rodrick as he finished up his papers. His throat was parched, his fingers aching from all that typing. As he went to reach for his coffee cup, his hands ran across a folded up piece of paper. Curious of what it was, he got a hold of it. He averted his eyes to the left, then to the right, then proceeded to open the paper. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he read the paper.

_Samuel has cheated on his wife in the past many times, once with a celebrity and once with a teacher. She thought he loved her, but it was all just a lie, something that wasn't true all along._

_Samuel has cheated on his wife with other women?_ That question raced inside his head. That can't be true. Rodrick knew that Samuel loved his wife dearly, and would not cheat on her with another woman. Rodrick sat there, reading the paper again once more. _This can't be true. It seriously can't._ Putting the note aside, he pulled up one of his sleeves to check the time; the small hand ticked as the big hands laid on the numbers two and five. Sighing, he decided to get up and walk over to the water cooler to get something to drink.

He grabbed a plastic cup, and let the water escape from the cooler and land inside the cup. Rodrick then levitated the cup to his mouth, letting the refreshing water run down his throat, hydrating it. As he let out a long sigh,he felt a sudden tap on his shoulder, which made him almost loosen his hold on the plastic cup in his hands.

Turning around to see how it is, he saw it was no other than the man who put the paper on Rodrick's desk: his childhood friend and apprentice, Daniel.  
Rodrick took another sip from his cup, "Oh, hey, Daniel."  
A smile came across the man's face, "Hey, dude. Did you hear about the rumor spreading around?"  
Rodrick's eyes shot open when Daniel asked the question, but then went back to their normal size, "Yeah, why?"  
The man smirked, "Well, it's starting to get around the workplace. Let's hope that it doesn't reach the boss, eh?"

Rodrick frowned, "Yeah." He listened as Daniel's shoes made their usual clacking sound, fading off into the distance as the man left Rodrick's sight. The teenager felt a sudden pain of sorrow in his heart, like he had just seen a horrible tragedy right before his eyes, and it was pulling him in. He thought about the paper he had just read over a few minutes ago, about Samuel cheating. Rodrick gritted his teeth in anger; he was trying not to let this rumor deceive him. He only felt the same sorrow inside his heart, the rumor starting to slowly consume it. Rodrick then knew that he couldn't keep the words inside his mind any longer, that the rumor has finally set its toll.

As he walked across the hallway, he tapped people on their shoulders, and whispered those same exact words in their ears. Some people gasped in shock, some shook their heads in utter dismay. As Rodrick sat back at his desk, he felt sudden guilt consume his heart, and he slowly rested his head on the table.

He felt his heart beating a mile a minute, thinking over of what he just did. He just heard of a rumor that just had a small population growing, and thanks to him, he made it a swarm. Tears started to escape from his eyes, soaking an old piece of paper next to him. He couldn't believe what he just did. He's going to ruin his friendship with Samuel...possibly forever.

"RODRICK!" A sudden yell boomed across the building. Rodrick could tell it was the loud, yet ear-piercing tone of Samuel's voice whenever he is angry. "Are you around here, Rodrick?"

Rodrick tried to keep quiet as he heard the footsteps of Samuel walking across the room. He sensed the haunting eyes of the 28-year old man as he stood behind him. Feeling fear inside him, Rodrick slowly lifted his head up, his eyes now locked on Samuel.

"Is this your doing, Rodrick?" Samuel said, a threatening growl coming from his throat.  
Trickles of sweat started to run down Rodrick's face, "...Y-Yes, it is."

Hearing him confess, Samuel's eyes furrowed in a mix of anger and betrayal, "Why would you do this, Rodrick? Why?"

A lump appeared in the teenager's throat, "Well..."  
Before Rodrick was able to finish his sentence, Samuel happened to cast his eyes upon the folded piece of paper under the keyboard. Rodrick felt his agitation growing as Samuel grabbed a hold of the paper, and opened it. The green-eyed teenager felt himself die when he saw the look on Samuel's face, which was of shock and anger. Samuel growled, clenching the paper in his hands, and looked at Rodrick once more.

"...You...you downright runt! Get out of here!"

Rodrick's eyes widened in shock, "What...?"

"I said...Get out!" The sharp yell from before pierced Rodrick's ears as sadness filled his heart, and with a expression full of regret and sorrow, he left the building as the other workers followed behind him for the day.

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NAOKI's red eyes widened in shock as his father finished his story. He couldn't believe this actually happened, that the old man and his father were best friends back then, only to be broken up by a rumor. The blonde-haired boy saw his father's clover eyes glow lighter, due the tears escaping from them.

"...So it was all because of that horrible rumor?" NAOKI asked his father.  
His face shaped in sadness, his father nodded, "I was eventually fired, and had to find a new job somewhere else."  
As NAOKI went to say that he understood, the sound of someone coming outside got the two mens' attention.

"What's going on?" jun's voice was a mix of confusion and concern.  
NAOKI let a neurotic laugh escape his throat, "Oh, nothing. My father was just getting done with his story."

Understanding what her fiancee said, jun sighed, "Oh, okay."

Just then, Samuel came outside, having heard the conversation. It was suddenly silent as he stood there before the three, locking his eyes on Rodrick. "What was this about that rumor, Rodrick?"

Rodrick felt beams of sweat run down his face, "...Well, um, I was just telling my son my side of the story.`"  
"Your side of the story?" The old man didn't look surprised. "You mean the lie?"

NAOKI's father felt his anger rise, "No, I don't mean that!"

Not wanting to be rude, jun raised up her hand in a stop gesture, then looked at the two grown men, "What are you talking about?"  
"jun!" Samuel said. "Stay out of this! Besides, I've already told you my side of the story. You should know what we're talking about."

"Wait, what?" Rodrick and NAOKI's eyes widened when they heard him say that.  
Samuel gave them a mean glare, then gritted his teeth, but before he could say anything, Rodrick stopped him.

"There's no need to go in full detail about it, Samuel. Daniel wrote the letter." Rodrick's voice was breaking up as his agitation grew.  
Samuel's eyes widened, "What?! He..."  
NAOKI looked at his father in surprise, "Wait. You knew, Dad?"  
His father sadly nodded, and went to explain, "Daniel wrote the letter, and at the time, I was really mad, due to having stress put on me because of all the work I had to do at that place...and you..." He glanced over at Samuel. "Were my best friend. I...wasn't thinking straight. When my eyes scanned those fake, but conceiving words, I couldn't let those words escape my mind...so I-"

"Rodrick, I know."  
Rodrick's eyes widened, "H-How did you know?"

Samuel let a sigh escape his throat, "Daniel and I had had an argument a few days ago. He had been seen with my wife...that jerk! But getting back to the subject about the argument, I threatened him about his job. The short brown-haired man knew I had ties and could easily ruin his reputation." He took a minute to breathe. "But I was too late. Daniel got me first. Rodrick, I knew all along that who started the rumor. But what upset me the most is that you were my best friend, and you spread it, making it worse. You didn't even defend me."

Hearing those words from Samuel, Rodrick's eyes started to get glassy, using his arm to try to wipe them away, but the tears kept on flowing down. "...Well, I admit that I was mad at you because you were promoted to a title in which I deserved that I worked hard. But, as you know, that's in the past."

"Why...didn't you talk to me about this?"

Rodrick exhaled, "I was young and dumb back then. I held in all my anger. You know me...I wasn't one that was good with words. I let my jealousy and anger take over me, and then with all the extra work, I just lost it."

Samuel didn't know what to say. He rubbed his nose with his index finger and his thumb. He exhaled heavily, trying to take that all in. "What's done is done. There's no way we can change the past."  
A small smile came across Rodrick's face, and he nodded in agreement. He felt that Samuel was going to finally put it behind him. "I want this feud to die. I don't want to argue with you anymore. We've wasted too many years on this."

Samuel nodded, "Well, maybe in the near future, we can gain back the friendship we had, but it's gonna be slow...one step at a time."  
The two grown men then walked up to each other, and for the first time in many years, they grabbed a hold of each others hand and shook it.

Rodrick gave Samuel a serious expression, "...Samuel, I'm so sorry. If I could go back and change what I've done the past, I would. But that's not possible."  
"Rodrick, I forgive you, but I will never be able to forget what happened. But hopefully in time, it will get easier, and it will heal."

NAOKI and jun felt relieved, their concern aside. They then wrapped their arms around each other, and embraced, happy that NAOKI's father and jun's grandfather were finally able to make amends, though it would be a long time for the feud to finally die off. The couple let laughter escape their throat, with Rodrick and Samuel joining in.

Deciding to put the whole conversation to the side, the four went back inside, and joined the huge family tree of jun once again.


End file.
